The Purpose of Madrigals
by VampyrycPineapple
Summary: Change can be positive or negative. Others can be positive with negative responses.
1. Chapter 1

_Dear Amy,_

_I am not quite sure how to word this positively. I hate to be the bearer of bad news._

_The other high-ranking Lucians are __not__ taking the new rules very well. In fact, I would go so far to say that I have had several attempts on my life since I announced the news. _

_I do hope that the other branches are cooperating better than mine is._

_-Ian_

_PS:_

_Be sure to check your food/utensils until I settle them down._

_~O~_

**RECEIVED: 10:03 GMT**

**Ian,**

**Sorry, Amy's on a date and couldn't answer right now. **

**So what part of "Hey, we're going to stop hurting/betraying/all around being mean to the other branches and get along - oh, and by the way, you know those evil Madrigals, well they're Cahills, too" are they not getting?**

**Dan—The Ninja Lord of Awesomeness**

**SENT: 5:01 EST**

**~O~**

_*ring*_

_*ring*_

_*ring*_

"Hello? Cahill residence, this is Nellie speaking."

_"Hello."_

"Hey, if you're one of Dan or Amy's friends neither one of them is home right now."

_"I am Natalie Kabra."_

"Ooookay, why not? Hi, Natalie, why are you calling us mere peasants on this lovely day?"

_"Well, since Ian has locked himself in his room, I felt it was in our common interests for me to update you on the Lucian… issues."_

"You want the Madrigals to send help?"

_"No, I simply want you to know that I have dealt with it."_

"How does an eleven-year-old girl deal with several power-hungry Lucians?"

_"First of all, I am twelve; secondly, don't you want plausible deniability?" _

_~O~_

**_A TASTE OF NORMALITY_**

**Written by: Anonymous**

_*on the front porch of an extravagant mansion*_

EVAN: I had a great time today, Amy.

AMY: Me too.

_Awkward silence_

AMY: Well, I should be getting inside; Dan's probably making a mess right now.

EVAN: Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.

_AMY turns around to walk inside and reaches an arm out to open the door_

_Suddenly EVAN grabs her hand_

AMY: Evan…?

_EVAN kisses AMY_

_AMY breaks away and turns bright red_

AMY: I have to go now.

_AMY hurries inside leaving EVAN on the front porch_

EVAN: I wish that she'd open up sometime soon. I'm her boyfriend; she shouldn't be keeping secrets from me!

~O~

_hey Madison, guess what!_

**what? did Dan txt you?**

_what! noooo, anyways, the Lucians issues have been taken care of!_

**yay? still not seeing why you're all happy**

_NATALIE __is the one who fixed it!_

**still not seeing the problem here**

_how does a twelve year old girl fix that issue?_

**She-Cobra is a She-devil, nothing else to it. hey how did you get this information in the middle of class anyways?**

…

**OMG, Dan really did txt you!**

_pshaw_

**as soon as you admit you like him I'll shut up, now tell your twin the truth darling**

_fine, it was Dan, you happy now?_

**my dear sister, your never ever going to live this down**

**~O~**

**_Dear journal,_**

**_Can I call you journal? I'm not calling you diary so you're going to have to settle for journal._**

**_You know why I'm even writing in you, journal? 'Cause my Dad thinks it would be a great way for me to deal with Mom not talking to us anymore._**

**_I'm totally fine, it's not like it affected my life much; she was hardly ever around. In fact, I'm going to rebel a little against her; I am going to use __grammar__ in here. It's actually hard to write out full words, you know? It's so different than my normal day-to-day speech._**

**_But what to talk about, what to talk about._**

**_I know! Janus business._**

**_So recently I received Intel from the Starlings, who received news from the Holts (though how those two families actually managed to get on speaking terms…but I digress) that the Lucians have calmed down, and that __Natalie Kabra__ was the one who fixed the issue._**

**_I almost wish I had had her skills at negotiating, but I don't want to hurt innocent people._**

**_You know, I still don't know how unhappy the Lucians were about the changes... Anyways, Ian and/or Natalie have been doing a very good job at keeping it secret. I don't even think Amy knows, and I'm pretty sure that Ian has been in contact with her somehow. And we both know that there are some feelings between the two of them._**

**_Until next time,_**

**_Jonah Wizard_**

**_~O~_**

RECENT ACTIVITY IN THE EKATERINA BRANCH

_A report by Ted Starling. __With commentary by Ned Starling_

Hi, Amy!

How's life going for you? Stuff had been going pretty well for us Ekats until the subject of Madrigals came up. _You see, we're smart enough to realize that we may actually be better off working together._ When you guys came up it kind of, well, snowballed. _That's putting nicely; you guys should've been there! _If it wasn't for the extremely high fact that they might've been killed_. Details, details they both would've found it worth it if only they saw the head's faces. _Okay, I'll admit it was pretty funny. _Pretty funny? It was HILARIOUS!_

Back to the point, half the branch is mad at Alistair saying that we are crippled and obviously too young to know how to make such a big decision. _The other half is still mad at us for failing so horribly in the Clue hunt._ That isn't exactly how I would have put it, but yes, they are rather mad at us.

_We're just hoping that the other Ekats were a bit _(lot) _more open-minded._

I hope that there weren't any errors, I can't see very clearly yet.

_Oh, yeah, the surgery that Ted and I came up with is working, my headaches are less intense, and his vision will be coming back in gradually!_

_Toodles, _

_Ned _and Ted 

~O~

**A letter from Ian to Amy**

**An email from Dan to Ian**

**A call from Natalie to Nellie**

**A play scene with Evan and Amy**

**A note between Madison and Reagan during school**

**Jonah's journal entry**

**And a report from Ted (and Ned) to Amy**

**And many, many thanks to my lovely bets _RageRunsStill_, who helped me finetune this story.**

In case you haven't noticed yet, this story is slightly AU from the end of the Clue Hunt.


	2. Chapter 2

_*__**IHeartMath** __has logged on*_

_*__**Football123** __has logged on*_

**IHeartMath**: Holt.

**Foolball123**: Starling

**IHeartMath**: Do you know whose bright idea it was to make a chat room for Cahills?

**Football123**: Nah, some Madrigal… I think

_*_**_NinjaLord39_**_ has logged on*_

**IHeartMath**: Dan.

**Football123**: What's up?

**NinjaLord39**: Nothing much. Oh, and, Sinead, if you're waiting for Amy, it might be a while

**IHeartMath**: Why?

**NinjaLord39**: She's video chatting with Ian. It's going to take AT LEAST three days

**IHeartMath**: Unfortunately, I don't see why that's going to take so much time.

**Football123**: Starling's right, even I don't know what happened. Tell us

**IHeartMath**: What do you know, Holt?

**Football123**: Korea

**IHeartMath**: Huh? Still not seeing how that counts.

**NinjaLord39**: DING DING DING! Ham's got it… Korea! You know that the word Korea still makes Amy blush…

**IHeartMath**: Forgive me if I wasn't as active in the Clue hunt as you two were. Tell me what happened in Korea!

**NinjaLord39**: Look, if I thought I could tell you guys AND come out of it alive, I'd so tell, but I don't think I'm going to still be alive if I tell you, so no

**Football123**: Must be some good stuff

**NinjaLord39**: I have to go…

**IHeartMath**: Why?

**NinjaLord39**: CALM DOWN AMY! Amy's kind of upse—

_*__**NinjaLord39** __has been disconnected*_

**Football123**: …What just happened?

**IHeartMath**: I… don't know.

**Football123**: But I want to know what happened in Korea!

**IHeartMath**: Me too. You know, Holt, I think we can work together for our mutual benefit.

~O~

**_Dear journal,_**

**_Today will be interesting, from the Janus perspective at least. _**

**_You see, journal, my dear, sweet mother has riled up the Janus and has gotten most of them believing that they should be PROTESTING AGAINST working with the Madrigals. I don't know why, especially considering that they were pretty receptive to the idea yesterday._**

**_So now my fellow Janus want to stop working with the Madrigals and go back to "tradition" - whatever that is. I mean, what's nice about not trusting any Cahills at all, including your own branch? I, for one, would like to actually get along for once. It's much easier not to be paranoid all the time, anyways._**

**_What was that noise? I should go check it out._**

**_Until next time,_**

**_Jonah Wizard_**

**_~O~_**

**_A TASTE OF NORMALITY_**

Written by: Anonymous

_*at the fair*_

EVAN: You see? This is nice; we should go to the fair more often.

AMY: This IS fun.

EVAN: Soooo, do you want to go get our pictures taken or ride the rollercoaster next?

AMY: How about we…

_AMY trails off; she has spotted someone in all black following them_

AMY: I have to go use the bathroom.

_AMY heads over to the mysterious person, she calls out over her shoulder,_

AMY: Save us a spot in line for the roller coaster!

_EVAN starts walking towards the line but stops, EVAN follows AMY around the corner, where AMY is taking a folder from the person in black, he hides in the shadows_

AMY: Are you sure it's the Janus that are rebelling?

MAN IN BLACK: Yes, but they are fickle. Next week they will be shunning anyone still standing for "tradition."

AMY: Is Jonah or Cora the one taking care of it?

MAN IN BLACK: Cora is the one leading the protesters; Jonah is the one trying to get all of them to calm down so he can talk to them and explain.

AMY: Good for him.

_AMY opens the folder and starts skimming it_

MAN IN BLACK: Don't you have a date to be getting back to?

_EVAN walks away quickly and gets in the line_

_AMY walks up_

AMY: Sorry, the line for the ladies room was very long.

EVAN: _*nervously* _Yeah, that's okay.

AMY: Evan, is there something wrong? You're acting kind of funny

EVAN: _*stiffly* _Nothing's wrong; why would you say that?

AMY: Whoa, calm down, I was just asking.

EVAN: Well, don't ask!

_EVAN walks forward_

AMY: I wonder what's going on with Evan…

~O~

**_Dear journal,_**

**_The noise wasn't that big of a deal, but now Dad's going to need some extra security around the front gates. You'd think that I'd be safer in my own home, don't you? Well, unfortunately, that is not always the case for a Janus celebrity._**

**_So I'll write again when we get to the safe house._**

**_Until next time,_**

**_Jonah Wizard_**

**_~O~_**

**hey Reagan, guess what!**

_what?_

**the Janus are protesting working with the Madrigals**

_well, that's stupid_

**wanna know that best part?**

_what? That it was Ned Starling who txted you this?_

**what? noooooo, that Jonah has to be moved to a safe house for the next week or two**

_where's the safe house?_

**oh, he' s just staying with Dan and Amy in Grace Cahill's mansion**

_Madison, that's not big news_

**oh, then what qualifies as big news?**

_the fact that Ham and Starling are working together on something_

**they are? since when?**

_IDK, but I saw them IMing each other last night_

**Ham is going to end up doing a lot of chores, isn't he?**

_oh yeah _

_~O~_

_Dear Amy,_

_I am sorry; I did __NOT__ mean that! I was just already upset at the few Lucians that Natalie hadn't managed to scare off enough._

_Forgive me? _

_-Ian_

_PS:_

_Please?_

_~O~_

**RECEIVED: 7:15 EST**

**Daniel,**

**Tell your sister that she really should just forgive Ian already, he's acting up even worse than he did when he found out that Amy had a boyfriend.**

**I can't take it much longer.**

**Natalie~ Yes, darling, I am much prettier than you are. Deal with it.**

**SENT: 12:12 GMT**

**~O~**

_*ring*_

_*ring*_

"Who are you and how did you get this number?"

"_Whoa, calm down, this is Nellie Gomez; you know, the Cahills' au pair. "_

"Ah, yes, now why are you calling?"

"_Well, Amy, after much convincing, has decided that it was in her best interests to forgive you."_

"Then why is she not calling me herself?"

"_Because she said, and I quote, 'I haven't forgiven him that much yet,' end quote. "_

"Okay."

"_Okay?"_

"Okay."

_*click*_

_~O~_

**An IM between Sinead, Hamilton, and Dan**

**A journal entry from Jonah**

**A play scene with Amy and Evan**

**Another journal entry from Jonah**

**A note from Madison and Reagan during school**

**A letter from Ian to Amy**

**An email from Natalie to Dan**

**A phone call from Nellie to Ian**

**And much thanks to Rage.**


	3. Chapter 3

RECENT ACTIVITY IN THE EKATERINA BRANCH

_A report by Ned Starling. _With commentary by Ted Starling.

_Hey, Amy,_

Stop it already with the niceties, Ned. This isn't good news. _Oh, and Amy would rather get the facts with no humor in it all? _Yes! _That was rhetorical. _Get back to the point, Ned. _Fine. Amy, the Ekat branch has decided to start protesting. _Yes, be blunt about it, why not? _Yes, BUT, since we're not exactly Tomas, they're doing the protesting peacefully. **  
><strong>_

Not everyone's protesting. _Yeah, the super-geeks that have no life are still working, but that's about it. _Seriously, do you have NO social skills whatsoever? _How did you find out about my condition? _You really have a medical issue that prevents you from having manners? _Yes, it's called you-are-really-easy-to-be-fooled-itis. _Haha.

Bye,

Ted and _Ned Starling_

_~O~  
><em>

_**Dear journal, **_

_**The rest of the Janus are finally starting to calm down and listen to me. I guess that when the other branches say that we change like the weather, they're right. I seriously had no idea how easily we could be succumbed to advertising. **_

_**Oh, and my safe house is actually Amy and Dan's newly rebuilt mansion. Evidently they put their money to good use. It's actually much homier than home. Maybe we should redecorate, so it's more like this…**_

_**I have to go, the rest of the Janus are waiting for me to make ANOTHER speech. The best part? The looks on Amy and Dan's faces when they get back from school.**_

_**Until next time,**_

_**Jonah Wizard**_

_**~O~  
><strong>_

_*__**Football123 **__has logged on*_

**Football123: **Anyone here?

_*__**39booksonmyshelf **__has logged on*_

**39booksonmyshelf: **What's up, dude?

**Football123: **Umm, Amy, you feeling alright?

**39booksonmyshelf: **This is Dan. Amy killed my computer

_*__**IHeartMath **__has logged on*_

**IHeartMath: **Hi, Amy. Hi, Hamilton.

**39booksonmyshelf: **Since when have you two been on first-name terms?

**Football123: **…

**IHeartMath: **…

**39booksonmyshelf: **Thanks; I can tell when I'm not wanted

_*__**NinjaLord39 **__has logged on*_

**39booksonmyshelf: **…Gulp…

**IHeartMath: **Hi, Dan.

**NinjaLord39: **DAN CAHILL, YOU GET OFF MY COMPUTER RIGHT NOW! DO YOU HEAR ME?

**39booksonmyshelf: **Okay, I'm leaving, I'm leaving. Please don't kill me

**Football123: **Hey Amy

**NinjaLord39: **DAN… Hi, Ham.

**IHeartMath: **Okay, someone explain, please.

**39booksonmyshelf: **Well, this is Dan, and _NinjaLord39_ is currently Amy

**IHeartMath: **Why? ... Never mind, I don't want to know.

**Football123: **That's the spirit Sinead, knowing isn't everything

_*__**39booksonmyshelf **__has logged off*_

**NinjaLord39: **Finally

_*__**NinjaLord39 **__has logged off*_

**IHeartMath: **Should we call Jonah to make sure that Amy doesn't murder Dan?

**Football123: **Nah, they're siblings, as much as they annoy each other, they will always be there for each other

**IHeartMath: **Tomas actually have enough sense to realize that and put it to use?

**Fooltball123: **Oh, thanks

**IHeartMath: **You learn something new every day. Now have you hacked onto the Janus server yet?

**Football123: **Yeah, but they have nothing, especially considering that Jonah wasn't even there around that time.

**IHeartMath: **And how would you know that?

**Football123: **'Cause he was with us in—nevermind that, what did the Lucians have on Korea?

**IHeartMath: **The only mention of Korea was in Ian's personal files.

**Football123:** And it said?

**IHeartMath:** If the best Lucians can't hack into that, how am I supposed to get into it?

**Football123: **Fine, so we have a grand total of nothing.

**IHeartMath: **Yep.

~O~

**RECEIVED 2:45 GMT**

**Ian,**

**Do you have some special plan that I can give to Uncle Alistair, so he can put it into effect? Please tell me you do. Or at the very least you have some way that we can get the Ekats working again. **

**At least you MUST have heard of the Ekats' peaceful protesting.**

**And do you have any way to get the last of the Janus to give up? They're still protesters on my front yard, and you'll forgive me if I want them gone so I can walk to the bus stop, so I can to get to school on time.**

**Finally, yes, I have forgiven you. I do not completely understand how much pressure you were under, but I can sort-of relate.**

**~Amy**

**SENT 9:42 EST**

**~O~  
><strong>

_the Ekats are rebelling now_

**how? by breaking their stupid science equipment?**

_naw, something called peaceful protesting_

**why don't you ask your boyfriend what peaceful protesting is?**

…_fine_

_peaceful protesting is like us sitting around our classes all day and sitting on the floor and not doing anything. oh, and not moving until we get what we want_

**what kind of protesting doesn't have violence?**

_wimpy Ekat protesting_

**I knew that **

_you asked a question_

**you weren't supposed to answer it!**

_how was I supposed to know that?_

**I don't know!**

…**so umm, how long is the Ekat protest going to last?**

_until they can't take it anymore and start working like crazy_

**haha**

_:D_

_~O~  
><em>

RECENT ACTIVITY IN THE EKATERINA BRANCH

A report by Ted Starling. _With commentary by Ned Starling._

Hello, Amy,

_Hiya! _You are way too happy for a normal person. _But, Ted, we aren't normal; we're Cahills! _It it wrong for me to see nothing wrong with that statement? _Yes. _But to the good news, _the Ekats stopped protesting! _Yes, Ned, go and take the main point of my report and just blurt it out. Really. I'll never hold that against you. _Aww, thanks, bro._

Back to the point, they stopped protesting because they _couldn't take it anymore_ and had to start working immediately.

_Just updating you,_

_Ned _and Ted Starling

~O~

_*ring*_

_*ring*_

_*ri—_

"_Yo_?"

"Jonah? What are you doing at Amy and Dan's house?"

"_Dude this is, like, my safe house, you know?"_

"No, I did not know that, Jonah. Is either Amy or Dan home?"

"_Yeah, Dan's here. Did you know how nice their crib is? It's, like, nicer than mine."_

"That's nice, Jonah- Wait, how is it nicer than yours?"

"_It's got that homey feel mine doesn't. Do you want me to get Dan?"_

"Yes, that would be… nice."

"_YO, DAN!"_

"_YEAH?"_

"_THE PHONE'S FOR YOU!"_

"_COMING!"_

Thud

Thud

Thud

"_Hello?"_

"Hello, Daniel."

"_It's DAN, D-A-N. And what do you want?"_

"I just wanted to let you know that the Ekats broke down and stopped protesting, I figured that you might not receive Ted's report soon enough to deal with the Tomas when they finally notice that it's their turn to rebel."

"_And an excuse to talk to Amy."_

Snort "Hardly."

"_Suuuure. Listen, I have to go meet up with some friends, so I have to go. So unless you actually want to talk with Jonah, I'd suggest that you hang up now."_

Click

~O~

_**A TASTE OF NORMALITY**_

**Written by: Anonymous**

_*in a school hallway*_

AMY: Hi, Evan, how was tech?

EVAN: Horrible! The guy doesn't even know what he's talking about half the time! I noticed at least TWENTY mistakes during his lecture. But enough about me - how was your day?

AMY: It was great. I got some news during fifth and it's managed to keep me happy all day.

EVAN: Oooh, care to share?

AMY: Sorry, family business.

_DAN walks up_

DAN: Ready, Amy?

AMY: Just a second.

_AMY kisses EVAN on the cheek_

DAN: _*sighs_* Come on, Amy.

_DAN drags AMY off to their bus_

AMY: Bye, Evan!

EVAN: Bye, Amy! I wonder why she couldn't share; it was good news, right?

~O~

_**Dear journal,**_

_**Most of the protesters have cleared up, and I'm leaving back for my house tomorrow. I wish I didn't have to leave, this place is so much nicer, and funnier, and all around better.**_

_**Oh well, I should be going; Amy and Dan will have to deal with Tomas protesters next, and you'll forgive me if I don't want to be anywhere near that. At least the Ekat protesters gave up. I heard that they immediately ran to their ongoing projects and ended up staying at their respective labs overnight.**_

_**Until next time,**_

_**Jonah Wizard**_

_**~O~  
><strong>_

**A report from Ned (and Ted) to Amy**

**Jonah's journal**

**An IM conversation between Sinead, Hamilton, Dan, and Amy**

**An email from Amy to Ian (which should be underlined, but my computer's glitching, so I'll try to fix it.)  
><strong>

**A note between Reagan and Madison**

**Another report from Ted (and Ned)**

**A call from Ian to Jonah and Dan**

**A play scene between Evan, Amy and Dan**

**Another one of Jonah's journal entries**

**And many. many thanks to RageRunsStill, my awesometastic beta.  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 4

_did you hear? did you hear?_

**about what?**

_what's happening tomorrow?_

**yes, I have heard, how could I have not?**

_how are we going to get to school? dad's going to be a bit preoccupied._

**Ham's taking us, he doesn't want to take part in it.**

_well yeah, he wouldn't be able to stand a whole day surrounded by other Tomas_

**what are you talking about?**

_Ham's got a GIRLFRIEND_

**what? no, who?**

_the Starling girl_

**this goes against every single one of my natures, but they do make a cute couple**

_not all of your nature are against that, that's your girl side kicking in_

**I don't suppose you know a way to make it shut up?**

_sorry, you're just going to have to live though it_

_~O~  
><em>

_Dear Amy,_

_I'm sure that by now you've gotten the stragglers of the Janus and Ekat branches to leave your front lawn (Jonah told me about the unofficial Janus/Ekat meeting/pow wow you guys held). I'm hurt that I wasn't invited._

_I'm writing to tell you that the Tomas branch is planning to, how do you Americans put it, ah yes, _trash_ your house within the next month. I suggest reinforcing your front gates with titanium steel._

_-Ian_

_PS:_

_I'll cover one eighth of the damage bill if this doesn't make it there in time._

**_A TASTE OF NORMALITY_**

**Written by: Anonymous**

_*in a classroom*_

_An offstage voice calls out AMY and DAN CAHILL to the front office for check out_

EVAN: Bye, Amy.

AMY: Bye, Evan.

_AMY walks out into the hallway where she meets with DAN_

_They walk to the _office_ where NELLIE GOMEZ is waiting_

NELLIE: Come on, kiddos; we've got to go inspect for property damage.

_NELLIE pushes AMY and DAN outside_

_They begin to walk to NELLIE's car_

DAN: What do you mean 'property damage'? Was it ninjas?

NELLIE: I wish it was ninjas. The Tomas decided it was their turn to protest.

AMY: But property damage?

NELLIE: The Tomas are like the opposites of the Ekats.

DAN: So they destroyed our stuff.

NELLIE: Unfortunately, yes, they did kill lots of our stuff.

AMY: Why us?

NELLIE: Because we're the cause of the change.

AMY: So they take their anger out on us?

NELLIE: Yeah.

DAN: That not fair! They could've hurt my collections!

_They reach NELLIE's car_

AMY: Let's just hurry so we can get there sooner.

_They enter the car and drive away_

_~O~  
><em>

**_Dear journal,_**

**_The Tomas are protesting now; not really sure when they finally caught up with the program, but they caught up, finally._**

**_And since it isn't exactly hard to rile up a Tomas, I know of a total of five who aren't trying to storm supposed Madrigal/Janus/Ekat/Lucian strongholds across the world. Two are my bodyguards, three are the younger Holts._**

**_Since I was in a good position to take over from my dear, sweet mother, the branch wants me to go into hiding. Again._**

**_But since Amy and Dan's house is one of the places the Tomas are raiding (as a supposed Madrigal base), I can't go there. Shame. I had fun. I can only hope that my next safe house is half as nice as the Cahills' place._**

**_Until next time,_**

**_Jonah Wizard_**

**_~O~  
><em>**

_*_**_39booksonmyshelf _**_has logged on*_

_*_**_IamAwesome _**_has logged on*_

_*_**_IHeartMath _**_has logged on*_

**39booksonmyshelf: **What's up guys?

**IHeartMath: **I have a boyfriend!

**39booksonmyshelf: **No way! Who?

**IamAwesome: **Before this descends into the unfathomable depths of "girl talk," I would like to ask Amy how her house's condition is.

**IHeartMath: **Why would you feel the need to—Ian, tell me what's going on.

**IamAwesome: **The Tomas are protesting now.

**IHeartMath: **…Excuse me; I have to go call my boyfriend.

_*_**_IHeartMath _**_has logged out*_

**39booksonmyshelf: **But she didn't tell me!

**IamAwesome**: Amy, think; why would she call her new boyfriend when she learns that the Tomas are rebelling?

**39booksonmyshelf: **…Oh, I get it now.

**IamAwesome: **I think that they're trying to keep it quiet, so I think it's for the best if you keep quiet about it.

**39booksonmyshelf: **That makes sense…

**IamAwesome: **I should hope so. What kind of Lucian would I be if I couldn't prove a point?

**39booksonmyshelf: **Let me guess - a bad one?

**IamAwesome: **However did you guess that?

**39booksonmyshelf: **:D

~O~

**RECEIVED: -:- **

**Tomas,**

**Stop attacking various suspected strongholds; it just isn't worth it.**

**Do you want to eternally be known as the strong people that you can hire for a little bit of money because they are stupid and don't know any better?**

**Or,**

**Do you want to be known as the strong people that can occasionally have talents in other areas, such as exploring? Ignoring the feud between Ekats and Tomas we could've gotten a Tomas diver to the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, glory for both branches - you know mutual benefit?**

**The Madrigals are offering us a choice: stay the same and become the enemy, or change, accept and become one fifth of a whole, where everyone has equal say.**

**In fact, ALL of the other branches have already agreed to join the Madrigal and start getting along; if this offer appeals to the Lucians, Ekats, and Janus, it HAS to be a decent plan.**

**So get over it - we're joining the Madrigals.**

**SENT -:-**

**~O~  
><strong>

_*ring*_

_*ring*_

_*ring*_

_*ring*_

Click

"Hello this is the voicemail inbox of 'Amy and Dan Cahill, and Nellie Gomez' please leave a message after the beep. If this is a family member press 3 then 9 and punch in your branch name, you will be forwarded to a family relations manager."

Beep

"Hello? Amy? Dan? Nellie? Is anyone home? This is Evan, someone pick up please. Any day now. No one? Oh well, Amy are you free on Saturday? There's going to be a school dance, they announced it on the PA system during seventh period. Will you go with me? Come on, there must be someon—"

Beep

~O~

**A note between Reagan and Madison**

**A letter from Ian to Amy**

**A play scene**

**Jonah's Journal entry**

**An IM conversation between Amy, Ian and Sinead**

**An email from an anonymous Tomas to all Tomas members**

**A call from Evan, which gets forwarded to voicemail**

**And many, many, many thanks to the wonderful RageRunsStill, who beta'd this for me.**

**[EDIT] Should I write one more chapter? An epilogue or something?  
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	5. Epilogue

_Click!_

A sixth window appeared on the screen.

The smiling faces of Amy and Dan Cahill stared back at the people waiting for them.

"Sorry we're late everyone. Dan had to clean up the living room after he trashed it," Amy spoke, glaring slightly at Dan.

Dan looked at the others defensively. "It isn't my fault that it couldn't take in the awesome force of my ninja powers!"

"That's lovely, Dan, __now that you two are finally here. Can we begin the meeting now?" Natalie asked, holding up her hand to get a better look at her manicure. "I need to have this redone, where can you find a decent manicurist nowadays? Holts first, I don't want any more property damage done to the mansion."

"Okay, well, we've managed to get the other Tomas to listen," Hamilton told them, wincing as he shifted his arm. "However, getting them to understand is a _very_ different matter."

Sinead's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with your arm?"

The twins glanced at each other nervously, "Ummm, you know that Dad's not exactly known for his brains?" Madison started.

The others' faces contorted, showing some signs of revulsion.

"I see your faces! Dad didn't hit him! He's only making Ham's training extra hard for the rest of the year!" Reagan finished.

Ned raised his eyebrows. "He does realize that it's only _February_, right?

Madison's mouth opened… and closed. "I… don't know…" she said uncertainly.

Jonah snorted, "Uh... Well, movin' on; the Janus are acceptin' the proposal the Madrigals sprang, and now we're all part of the same team, yo!" Jonah said excitedly. Then added in a softer voice, "For the most part, anyway."

"For the most part?" Ian inquired.

Jonah looked hard into his webcam. "Listen up, yo - you try gettin' some of the most unreliable peeps on the PLANET to agree on somethin', then you can complain, a'ight? But not before."

"Back to our issue, Ted, how are the Ekats doing?" Amy redirected the conversation before _another_ screaming match could take place.

Ted looked off screen for a moment. "We're doing fine, actually. Just some reports from some Ekats who have had nervous breakdowns because their experiments went awry when they were protesting. However, other than that, we're accepting the transition quite peacefully."

"That's good,"__Amy said, "Ian, how are the Lucians doing?"

"We have gotten most of them to stop. The others have taken their operations far enough underground that it's no longer a problem," Ian informed the group.

Amy grinned. "So good news all around?" Nods. "And as you know, the Madrigals are most definitely okay with the changes."

Natalie sighed. "It's over? Finally! My nails are horrible and they're not even going to go with the outfit I'm wearing to a benefit for something we're attending later." Everyone except her brother stared at Natalie. "What?" she snapped at them. "Just because I have a fashion sense doesn't mean that you have to stare!"

Then Natalie's screen flickered off.

Ian looked out his doorway. "I'm going to go make sure she doesn't break anything—"

_CRASH!_

"…Else," Ian finished weakly. His screen then turned blank.

Hamilton spoke up next, "We'd better be going, too. Dad's going to be getting back soon. See you guys next time!"

"Bye!"

"Adios!"

"Ciao!"

"See ya later!"

"I'll IM you tomorrow!"

"And then there were six."

Sinead smacked her brother. "Ted!"

"What?" He rubbed his ear. "That hurt!"

"We'd better be leaving now, too. We've got this new project we've been meaning to start working on…" Ned yelled over his siblings' progressively getting louder argument.

The Starlings' screen sputtered out.

"… I am so very tempted to say 'and then there were three' right now."

Dan snorted. "Jonah? You just did."

"Technicalities, technicalities. Well. I gotta hop. Rehearsal time! Later, dudes."

Jonah's screen turned into static.

Dan opened his mouth—and got cut off by Amy saying, "Don't you even go there."

_Ring_

_Ring_

_Rin—_

Amy picked up her cell phone. "Hello? ...Hi, Mr. McIntyre! why are you calling? ...Speaker phone? Okay, hang on a second…" Amy pressed a button on her phone and held it out on her hand. "Why?"

"_You must start packing, children."_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Packing? Where we going?" Dan asked.

"_Fiske will have to tell you. All I can say is pack warmly, like for Switzerland."_

_~O~_

Vesper Four smirked.

It seemed as if the Cahills could lead them to Gideon's ring.

He had to inform Vesper One about this most interesting new development.

~End~

**The not-so-long awaited Epilogue! **

**A video chat between everyone.**

**I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, you guys are all awesome. XDD**

**And many, many, many, many, many, many many thanks to RageRunsStill. **

**She is amazing. **

**Everyone who reviewed is amazing too.**

**:)**


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